Within the darkness
by Smoochynose
Summary: Jacob Black finally imprinted, unfortunately it’s on a girl with a mysterious past and wants nothing to do with life. He wants to show her how to live. She just wants to be left alone. Vamps/wolves/something else JBxOC ECxBS CCxEC JHxAC RHxEC
1. The start of change

**Summary: Jacob Black finally imprinted, unfortunately it's on a girl with a mysterious past and who wants nothing to do with life. He wants to show her how to live. She just wants to be left alone. Vamps/wolves/something else**

**Pairings: All canon except Jacob who will be paired with an OC**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any other book in the Twilight Saga. It belongs to Stephanie Meyer. I also do not own Claire Bennet from heroes.**

*** * * ***

**Chapter 1 - The start of change**

_"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed." - Carl Jung_

_"Every time we choose safety, we reinforce fear." - Cheri Huber_

First beach down at the Quilette reservation was one of the favourite hangout spots of the jaded teenagers of the small town of Forks in Washington State, rainiest place on earth. However, with the dark storm clouds brewing overhead, they were avoiding it like the plague, except one girl.

Raven locks whipped around her petite form as she stood on the edge of a cliff she had seen some of the locals jumping from, cliff diving. Murky greenish blue eyes scanned the turbulent waters below critically before gazing upwards at the rumbling clouds and drifting shut as the first of the rain fell, quickly becoming a downpour.

She knew she shouldn't be out in this weather, especially without any sort of jacket. It would be so easy for her to catch something and become ill, or become hypothermic but she couldn't bring herself to care, or perhaps it was that she cared too much about other things to care. She cringed slightly – her right hand gripping slightly at her tee-shirt above her chest, as if trying to hold her heart – as the thought became a deadly reminder of the past, dragging up memories she'd rather forget. The only emotions she ever showed anymore were in moments like this: pain, hurt, loss, betrayal …

_"… You can't stay here any longer …"_

Her eyes darted back down to the water as the waves crashed on the rocks. An odd part of her saw herself in a rock, if it were possible to give it human features. Usually the sea was so calm, gentle, and soothing that the rock didn't realise that it was wearing away at its defences, weakening it so much that when the storm came it would break. Only her storm didn't break her. When something is broken it can be fixed. She was shattered. There were no pieces large enough to work with, just dust.

_"… Look at you. Look at what this has done to you …"_

Murky eyes watched the rocks, as one small part broke away, plunging into cold waters and lost forever. It gave up, just like she had.

_"… I can't just sit here and watch you waste away. It's like you don't even want to live anymore …"_

Fists clenched, an attempt to block the pain. Everything was gone and yet she survived. She would always survive. Any wounds she received healed completely within minutes, even if her mind protested, ever since _that_ day.

_"… You can't stay here any longer. I'm sending you away …"_

Tears leaked out or murky eyes but did not fall, instead they gathered in the corner of her eyes and clouded them further. "Couldn't you see?" she asked aloud, "Couldn't you see that being there was the only thing that kept me going?"

_"… You'll get through this. You'll see …"_

"What if I don't want to?" she asked the memory quietly. She looked back down at the rocks and stormy waters below. Closing her eyes and taking a step forward she briefly wondered what drowning would feel like.

She fell, the air brushing past her in a way she wanted to forget. It only reminded her of everything that had happened.

Pain erupted in her side as she clipped one of the rocks below, before slowly sinking into the water. She opened her eyes, ignoring the sting of the saltwater. She watched apathetically as plumes of red floated out of her side, some intermingling with the strands of the ripped fabric that was her shirt, before the flesh began to knit itself back together.

'Why don't you just let me win for once?' she thought.

She continued to sink to the bottom of the sea, dragged down by the current. She mentally recounted the five different stages of drowning. She skipped the first stage - surprise. She wasn't surprised; she had planned this.

Stage two, involuntary breath holding. She guessed that was true. She didn't particularly want to try to see if that were true. She vaguely wondered how she could be so calm about drowning.

There was an increasing burning in her chest as her lungs begged for oxygen, forcing her to inhale the water. It was an unpleasant feeling, like when having a drink and it goes down the wrong tube only on a larger scale, and she would have tried to cough it up or swallow it had stage three nor effected at that moment.

Stage three – unconsciousness.

*** * * ***

Jacob Black sat on the porch of his home, letting the depression he had been feeling since Edward Cullen, vampire lover boy extraordinaire, returned from his practically year long trip god knows where in the world. He had thought his life was turning around in the world, Isabella "Bella" Swan, his best friend, crush, and daughter of Fork's police chief, had accepted the fact that he was a werewolf and was beginning to reciprocate his feelings.

It was too good to be true, literally. Bella accepted Edward back into her life without question, after all the pain he put her through, after all the time he had spent fixing her because of that damn bloodsucker. She had rejected him, married the leech and decided to become Mrs Leech, only that part hadn't happened yet. It was still in the planning though.

The only bright side of it all was the Cullens weren't allowed to even bite a human without facing the wolves' wrath and, like it or not – and it was most definitely not for them – Bella was human and so they couldn't touch her. No biting meant no transforming into an animated corpse.

Unfortunately Bella found out that the wolves were planning on sticking to that rule very tightly … on his request. That much was obvious from the note in his hands. He didn't need to read it to know what every word was or where every tearstain was. All o it had been burned into his memory just like the pain it brought.

How could you Jacob? You're supposed to be my friend, my best friend. Why are you ruining this for me? I love Edward, with all of my heart. Is it so hard to understand that he makes me happy? That I wish to be with him forever? I just – I just hate you so much right now. God, I hate you. Please just stay away from me, at least for now. I don't think I could even look at you right now. I'm sorry it had to be like this – Bella.

She chose the stone cold parasites before him and managed to make him feel guilty about it. He would have contemplated 'going wolf' as the pack members had dubbed it and running as far as he could, just like when he received the wedding invite, but he knew how much pain that would cause for his friends and family.

He groaned, trying to shake away the self-pity. It only made the others feel worse when he phased into a horse sized wolf, since their minds were linked in that form. There were no secrets among the pack.

Crumpling the note in his hand and stuffing it in his pocket he decided he needed to go for a run. Heading to the forest edge near the front of his house, he began to strip down, something all the wolves had become an expert in, and tied his trousers and shoes (his father had finally bought him another pair) around his ankle. He didn't need a shirt, even in the storm that was beginning to rage, being a werewolf meant he ran a naturally higher temperature than humans.

He phased almost instantly and felt relieved that only Leah was currently in wolf form. She may be bitter at times but she was a good person underneath it all and if there were anyone who understood him it would be Leah. Leah had been dating Sam Uley, alpha of the pack, and had been in love with him and he her. Unfortunately he imprinted. Werewolf term for finding his soul mate and said soul mate becoming the most important thing in the world. He lost all romantic notions of Leah, refocusing them tenfold on her second cousin.

At least Emily's not a bloodsucker_, Jacob thought to her, feeling her disgruntlement at his memories_.

_And that's supposed to make me feel better?_

_No. Does make me feel worse though, being ditched for a sparkly icicle with fangs. Doesn't say much for my sex appeal._

_As if you have any, _Leah snorted. Unfortunately her mind wandered to the other girls on the reservation who had him ranked at number two on their 'hotties list'. _Just don't let it go to your head. Your ego's big enough already._

Jacob found his paws taking him towards first beach and the cliff area. He hadn't been in a while and he wanted to watch the storm. Beauty was and would always be in a single fleeting moment to him. The fact that it didn't last made it all the more special. It also helped since it meant that it meant vampires, in all thier frozen glory, couldn't be beautiful.

_Never had you pegged as being so deep Black,_ commented Leah.

_It's a one off - never to happen again. Treasure that memory because it'll be the last one like it._

_Awr … Is little Jakie embarrassed that he's not an emotional prick like other guys? _He couldn't help but snort as an image of Sam Uley floated into her mind and across the link to him.

_Resentful much._

_You're the one whose girlfriend wants to be a bloody ice block._

Jacob flinched slightly as a weak scent caught in his nose, effectively distracting him from snapping back. The scent had been so weak that if he took a breath a second later he would have missed it entirely. It was unmistakably blood, human blood.

_Should I get Sam?_ asked Leah, changing the direction she was running in, heading back to La Push.

_We don't know what it is just yet. Someone may have just cut themselves on a particularly sharp branch_, he replied, running in the direction of the scent, towards the cliffs. _What would somebody be doing out in this weather? _It had been clear by the strong scent that somebody had been there recently, not even five minutes before. As he padded out onto the cliff he felt a strange sense of foreboding as he realised it was the same cliff Bella had jumped from all those months ago.

The russet coloured wolf looked down over the edge of the cliff when he saw a pale flash before the waves distorted the water again. He realised immediately that it was an arm and a second later that someone must have fallen from the cliff. _Get Sam!_ he shouted to Leah, not even waiting for an answer, he phased back and dived into the water and searched for the person he had seen.

A flash of lightning above the skin of the water lit up the area momentarily, allowing him to make out the sinking shape of a young girl before the light vanished. Swimming downwards he couldn't help be grateful for his inhuman strength, without which he wouldn't be able to swim against the currents.

Wrapping his arm around the girl's thin waist he dragged them upwards and out of the water and onto the beach. He felt slight panic as he realised that she wasn't breathing.

"Come on, breath," he shouted at the unknown person, the situation was much too similar to the one he found Bella in – the one that led to him losing her, just not in the way he had been expecting it at the time. The irony of the situation was sickening.

It took a few seconds for the panic to clear from his mind and make way for everything he had learnt when it came to saving drowning people. After the helplessness he felt when Bella almost died he never wanted to feel that way again, being there and not having a clue what to do.

He laid the girl (although he realised now that they must be similar in age) and checked her airways, however he didn't even have a clue what he was looking for or even if he was going about things in the right order. Panic had blurred his knowledge slightly. Deciding that he should try and clear the girl's airways, even if there was nothing blocking it, he began hitting her back. Relief flooded through him as she spluttered slightly, removing the seawater from her throat, before she slumped backwards again.

Jacob realised the girl wasn't breathing though. Parting her blue tinged lips and pinching her nose, he began CPR. The only real part of life saving he had learnt. Alarm was already taking over as he reached the third round of breaths and compressions and she was still not breathing. At the forth round the girl gasped out, murky blue eyes flickering open momentarily, before she slumped back down, breathing on her own.

It had only been the briefest of seconds but it was enough. The damage had been done.

In that one moment everything that Jacob had been connected to before, Bella, his father, his sisters, his pack, suddenly didn't matter anymore. They were still important but the world didn't need them to turn, unlike the girl before him. She was the centre of everything, the meaning of his life, his imprint.

Had it not been for the situation, he would have been looking at her like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time. As it was panic increased into pure terror that did not decrease in the slightest at the arrival of Paul, Leah, Quil, and Jared.

"Is she okay?" Sam asked striding over, not so much as blinking at Jacob's state of undress. If being a werewolf meant one thing it was that you lost your sense of what was modest and what was not.

"I don't know," the anxiety was rising in his voice, "She's breathing but I don't know anything else. I think she may have been under a while. What if was too long? What if there's damage? What if –"

"Stop panicking," snapped Leah. "The girl will be okay."

Jacob nodded but the tenseness in his body remained, showing that his unease and fear had not been eased.

"Jake," Quil said slowly, "The ambulance will be here soon. Don't you think you should get some clothes on?"

"But –" he began, looking back down at the girl, taking in for the first time that she was of Asian origin, at least partly. It had been watered down quite a bit. He guessed she had an Asian grandparent or great grandparent going back. Most of her features however were from an origin he couldn't quite put his tongue on at that moment.

"Shit," Sam swore, recognising the look beginning to form in the younger boy's eyes, knowing immediately that the boy had imprinted. He could barely imagine the fear that he felt. "She's going to be okay Jacob. The ambulance will be here soon and they'll take her to the hospital and check her over. You just need to get some clothes on. I'm sure they'll let you go with her to the hospital."

"Why would he want to go with her?" asked Jared, oblivious to the situation, just like Quil.

Leah on the other hand seemed to get it. "He's imprinted, hasn't he?" There was a strange mixture of annoyance and jealousy in her voice.

Sam nodded, watching out of the corner of his eyes as Jacob mechanically changed into his jeans and trainers, never once leaving the girl's side.

They were silent for a moment, before Leah realised something. "There was blood," she muttered, crouching at the girl's side. "That's why you came. There was blood." Pushing the unconscious girl upwards gently, she revealed that on her back the tee shirt was shredded and bloodstained.

Jacob's eyes widened and panic set in again, until the tee shirt was pushed back gently by Leah's hands to reveal flawless skin. "There's no wound!" she exclaimed. She was right. There wasn't a single mark on her creamy, white skin. "That's impossible," she whispered this time, "That blood is fresh and it's definitely hers but she doesn't have a single scratch on her."

"Looks like we have our very own Claire Bennett," commented Quil, only to silence when a growl reverberated in Jacob's throat defensively.

The sound of the ambulance sirens entered their hearing range before they could begin to talk about it. "Just be glad she's not hurt," commented Sam. He examined the shirt critically. "If they see that shirt then they'll start to ask questions, questions that we can't afford to answer. We can ask her how she's not hurt later but for now we have to protect both our secrets."

Jacob nodded and pealed off the wet shirt, blushing slightly when he realised that left his nameless imprint in just a bra, and hiding it just as the medics arrived.

Time seemed to change after that. He found himself in the ambulance with her and then sitting in a chair in the hospital, waiting for news. Not once did Bella or the Cullens cross his mind.

Sitting in silence did bring other thoughts though. Why had she been drowning? It was common sense not to go near the cliffs during a storm. Had she tripped or …

He shook his head. It wouldn't help him to be thinking of such things. He should be thinking of other things, like who the girl actually was, where she came from and what happened to her wounds.

"Mr Black." His head snapped up and he found himself looking at a middle-aged nurse with greying, brown hair tied up in a sharp bun. "She's awake now if you'd like to see her."

"Thank you." Standing, he followed the nurse to the room she pointed out and knocked on the door before entering. The girl was sitting up on the bed and watching him with blank eyes.

It was the first time he got a proper look at her without being in the offset of panicking.

Her hair, still damp from the sea, hung around her waist, curling in loose ringlets as the water dried. Murky blue eyes watched through heavy black eyelashes that were hidden slightly behind her fringe, which remarkably didn't curl with the rest of her hair.

Her skin was a flawless, creamy white, her cheeks tinted with a slight blush. Her jaw line was smooth and flowing, just like the rest of her features. Her lips were full and a perfect shade of rose. She was beautiful. The Asian features that seemed prominent before were merely background, giving the darkness of her hair, the thick eyelashes and slight facial structure. It gave her features a slight exotic touch. However there were flaws to her beauty.

She had heavy bags under her eyes, which he was hard pressed not to equate to the Cullens. The eyes themselves seemed sunken, tired. Her wiry frame, cloaked in her hair, was painfully thin. In his rush to get her to safety he didn't realise how small she was. Her shoulder blades jutted out from under the thin material of the hospital gown she was in.

Everything about her screamed out 'fragile' and 'delicate'.

Concern for the girl flooded through him at once. Nearly being drowned easily explained the bags under his eyes to him, as it was bound to have taken quite a bit out of her, but it couldn't explain her being unnaturally thin. She was too thin to be healthy.

"Hi. I'm Jacob Black. I was one of the people that found you," he introduced himself nervously, looking for any clue whatsoever about what to say to her. What do you say to your imprint that you've never met and nearly drowned? 'They really needed to make a guidebook on these things …' He glanced down at the plastic bag in his hand that he had forgotten about and lifted it so that she could see. "I got you some clothes from the hospital shop. The ones you had were ruined by the sea."

The girl eyed him emotionlessly for a moment before nodded. "Thank you." She had a strong accent that he couldn't identify.

"So what were you doing down at La Push? I've never seen you around before … erm?"

"Niamh. Niamh Collins." Again he couldn't identify the accent.

"Neve … cool name. Sounds odd though."

The girl's eyes hardened slightly. "That may be because you massacred the pronunciation."

"How's it spelt then?"

"N-i-a-m-h."

Jacob raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound like Neve at all."

"It's NEE-av," she said, sounding it out for him, and as the protectiveness of her name grew so did the thickness of her accent. Jacob found it cute.

"Sorry. It's a nice name. Where does it come from?"

"Ireland."

"So you're Irish?"

She looked at him suspiciously, as if she suspected Jacob wanted her deepest darkest secret to blackmail her with. "Yes but my grandmother was Asian - Japanese and Korean."

"Can you speak those languages?"

"I'm fluent in Irish, Japanese, English, and Korean. However I can only write a few words in kanji."

"More than I can do," Jacob shrugged. "So, are you just passing through town or what?"

"I've come to live with some distant family here. I'll be attending Fork's high school this term." It was a generic answer. There was nothing personal about it.

"How are you feeling?"

"Been worse." Jacob wasn't sure he wanted to know what worse was.

"You going to be out soon?"

The eyes narrowed again, thick black lashes making her eyes seem even darker but she answered anyway. "They just want me to sign a few forms and ask a few questions then I'll be free to go."

"Questions?"

"Like why I jumped off a cliff." It was said in a joking tone but had a dark quality to it that told the truth.

"Y-you jumped?"

"I don't see how it's any of your business," she said, slight annoyance colouring her voice. Apart from the discussion about her name it was the most emotion he had gotten out of Niamh.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"Fine."

"Do you have a lift back? It's just that I'm here anyway and friend dropped off my car and I wouldn't mind giving you a lift. That is if you want. You don't have to or anything."

She raised an eyebrow at his nervous ramblings. "Now are you saying that because you mean it or because you don't think the suicidal girl should be left alone?"

He was surprised at how blunt she was about it, most would have skirted over a fact like that in conversation. Then again nothing seemed to be affecting her emotionally. "I'm offering because I want to – not because I feel obliged to." He met her eyes so that she knew he was telling the truth.

"Fine," Niamh muttered as she broke away from Jacob's gaze. He smiled at her tone, as if she were going out of her way to do him a great favour by letting him take her home.

There was a knock at the door and the nurse came in. Jacob took that as his cue to leave. "I'll be waiting outside," he told the girl. She grunted slightly to show her displeasure but made no move to stop him. He waited a small while before the nurse emerged, followed a few minutes later by Niamh.

The clothes were bland. A pair of jeans and a blue tee-shirt but they fit decently enough. "You look good." He smiled at her, only to be met by apathetic murky eyes.

"Can we just go? Hospitals and me don't go well."

"Don't like them then?" he asked, feeling elated that Niamh had offered that information to him without any prompting first. He'd already gathered that she was less than trusting.

"Neither would you if your mother threatened to have you confined to one," she snapped at him bitterly, before her mask of apathy set in again hiding the horror at what she had revealed.

"Sorry. Let's make a deal then. Next time you almost drown then I'll only get an ambulance if it's really bad." He felt like hitting himself the moment the words left his mouth.

"You have a way with words Mr Black."

"Jacob, call me Jacob."

"And what makes you think that we are on such personal terms?" Jacob felt his heart sink slightly at that. Being ditched for a vampire is one thing, but being snubbed by your soul mate was a whole new level of rejection. There really must be something wrong with him.

"I'll still call you Collins if you want but I would like you to call be Jacob."

"I –" she began to reply when they walked into another corridor, however her body stiffened as her eyes landed on something. Following her gaze he realised it was Carlisle Cullen, head vamp and doctor. Dr Cullen's head snapped towards them, his dark eyes meeting Niamh's as she stiffened further, her breathing haggard.

Jacob gritted his teeth together as the air filled with an uncomfortable energy that seemed to crackle quietly, enough so that he could only hear it with his enhanced senses. It wasn't painful, just uncomfortable. However, judging by Carlisle's wince, it was more than just uncomfortable for the vampire. He'd go as far to say that he was in pain.

Glancing at Niamh he knew that somehow this was her doing. "Are you okay Collins?" Her head snapped towards him, the strange energy dissipating. Her eyes were wide with surprise, like she'd forgotten that he was there at all.

"Yeh, I'm fine," she replied turning back towards the vampire, her murky eyes watching him closely and full of suspicion until they turned the corner.

"What was that just then?" Jacob couldn't help but ask.

"What was _that_?" he asked, annunciating the word and filling it with meaning.

Her eyes widened minutely before narrowing once more. "His kind is not meant to be in a place such as this." Her voice was full of such dark hatred that it surprised Jacob. It only lasted momentarily, before the barriers were re-erected and she became apathetic again.

"That was Carlisle Cullen," Jacob explained, feeling that it was safer not to talk about what was just said – a reaction to knowing what his imprint needed. "He's a doctor from Forks and lives with his wife and five adopted children, his youngest son married my best friend, Bella, recently."

As he reached his Volkswagen Rabbit he opened the door to the passenger seat and held it open for her. She looked briefly amused at his antics and slid into the seat before looking back up at him. "You do not like them," she stated knowingly, almost pleased at that knowledge.

Jacob grinned at her perceptiveness, closing the door and hopping around the car and joining the Irish girl in his seat. "You could say that. I can safely say that there is no love lost between us. Unfortunately Bella can't see why I dislike him. If anything my reasons make her like him more. It's caused a few fights between us."

"Those in love do not necessarily listen to reason but sometimes it means that they are the only ones able to look past barriers and realise that they are all in the mind. Perhaps they were meant to be together."

"I still wouldn't like it if they were. Bella deserves better."

"Better doesn't necessarily mean happier."

"You're a wise one now, aren't you?" He briefly looked away from the road and grinned at her narrowed eyes.

"Wisdom comes from experience."

They sat in silence for a moment before Jacob realised something, he didn't know where he was supposed to be taking her. "Where in Forks do you live?"

"You can drop me off at the high school. I can walk from there."

"It's raining though." It was true. The storm hadn't lessoned since the trip to the hospital.

"I'm smart enough not to let a stranger know where I live. For all I know you could be a stalker."

"I'm not a stalker!"

"I never said you were."

"Yes, you did."

"No. I didn't. I said you _could_ be. There's a subtle difference."

"You're still insinuating that I'm a stalker."

"Yes, but you do keep looking at me like you are going to." Jacob realised he must be looking at her like all the others look at their imprints. He didn't notice he had been. "However, would you prefer for me to call you a closet pervert?"

"No! Where did that come from?"

"Aside from the fact that you're driving through the middle of a storm bare-chested, I have a fuzzy memory of someone removing my tee-shirt after I was pulled out of the water. I'm assuming that was you, either that or one of the friends you had down at the beach with you."

A rosy haze appeared across Jacob's russet coloured cheeks. He hadn't realised she'd been vaguely conscious for that.

"Besides, how old are you anyway? You must be twenty something."

"Sixteen."

"So you're on steroids then. You do realise those can leave you impotent, don't you?"

"What?"

"So you didn't know …"

"No, I didn't mean it like that. I was just wondering why you thought I was on steroids. Besides, how old are you? Twelve, thirteen?" It was an honest question. She was so small it was hard to get an idea of her true age.

"Sixteen," she grit out angrily.

Jacob couldn't help burst out laughing at the look of outrage on her face. He burst out laughing, chuckles overtaking him. "I'm sorry but this is the most defective argument that I've ever had."

"You're defective," she grumbled out but there was amusement in her eyes too. Jacob once again grinned brightly, only this time for managing to cheer his imprint up.

"Would you like to meet up some time?" he asked, hoping her good mood would make her more agreeable. "You seem great fun to be around."

She looked at him sceptically again, as if wondering where the hidden cameras for the joke were. Warm brown eyes met her murky blue eyes. They were open and honest. She paused, as if contemplating both sides of the argument – agree or not to agree – which she probably was. "I'll think about it," she said reluctantly.

He smiled gently to convey that was all he needed to know and she seemed to relax a bit more. He felt slightly disheartened when he realised that they had reached the school. "It was nice to meet you Collins."

She nodded again, never smiling. "Thank you for the lift Bl … Jacob. I …" she trailed off.

"Yes?"

"Nothing." She shook her head slightly. "Goodbye."

He watched her walk off sadly before he called back out to her. "Wait." She turned around, slightly surprised that he had gotten out of the car. He handed her a slip of paper. "My number," he explained at her puzzled look. "You can call whatever time you like and sun, sleet, or snow I'll come running. Don't feel like you have to be alone. I'll even just sit there if that's what you want."

He would have given anything to be able to name the emotion in her murky eyes at that moment. "Thank you Jacob."

"No problem, Miss Collins."

She looked like she wanted to say something but instead just murmured another 'thank you' and walked away. He didn't realise she was clutching the paper slip as if it were a lifeline, nor did he know that he was the only one to have offered to just be there for her.

Driving back to La Push he wondered what he could do to help her. She was his world and he'd give anything, everything just to make her happy. He didn't realise that he'd already helped her with her first step on the road to recovery.

He couldn't know, because he hadn't been trying. He was just doing what he felt was right, giving his imprint what she needed.

As he pulled into the driveway of his home he saw his dad waiting in his wheelchair for his son with a smile on his face. Sam or one of the others must have told him the news. He could already tell what the old man was thinking. His son could finally move on, he'd found his soul mate. He wouldn't run away anymore because he needed to be with Niamh.

That got him onto a new trail of thought. He had to be the only werewolf to ever imprint on a suicidal teenager with seemingly abnormal abilities, like not having a single scratch on her or what happened at the hospital. She knew what Dr. Cullen was, or at least alluded to the face. Had she encountered vampires before then?

"Jacob!" his father called happily, years seemed to have washed away from the man and in that moment he realised how much worry he had caused his father when he had left and his continuing pursuit of Bella.

"Dad," he greeted with a face splitting grin.

"I'm so happy for you. So … what's she like?"

"She's beautiful." It was the exact same thing that every werewolf had claimed about his imprint. In their eyes everything about their match was beautiful. There was no other way to describe it.

Billy Black rolled his eyes in exasperation at that generality of the description. The girl was essentially family now, he wanted to know a bit more than what he had been given, beautiful could mean anything, especially for an imprint. For starters her name would be nice. "You need to say a bit more than that, son. Have you told her yet?"

Jacob shook his head. "Her name is Niamh. She's Irish but with Asian roots and, no I haven't told her yet. I think I should get to know her first." He didn't want to scare Niamh off. He wouldn't know what to do if she left. A fleeting thought about whether that would be how Bella felt when Edward left grabbed his attention. Did she love him this wholly? Was that even possible? Was he causing her more pain than he believed by not letting her have her 'forever'?

"Bella. I have to tell Bella," he told his father. He passed the man a warm smile (one of many he seemed to be giving that day) to reassure him everything was okay on that front now. He still worried about her humanity, hated her husband, and had an abnormally close friendship with her but all romantic notions were gone.

"You do that." The smile Billy wore was a bit tight. He wasn't too keen on how his friend's daughter had chosen a vampire over his son – not that it mattered now.

Entering the house and, being careful not to hit his head on the doorway of the kitchen (it was slightly lower than the over doors and was not built for a six foot five werewolf), picked up the phone and dialled he number from memory absently. His mind was far away; slightly giddy with the amount of affection he felt whenever he thought of Niamh.

"_Hello. Swan residence. Bella speaking,"_ floated down the line. Her voice was softer and more alive than what it had last been when he heard her, which would have been on her wedding day. He hadn't heard her voice in over a month.

"Hey Bells, it's me." He didn't need to say more than that.

"_Oh," _her voice gained a steely tint. _"What do you want?"_

"To talk."

"_Why should I?"_

"It's important."

"_Is this about the pack changing its mind?"_

He winced slightly at the anger in her voice. "No."

"_Then it's not important."_

"Don't hang up!" he knew her well enough to know what she was about to do. He heard her sigh and took that as confirmation to keep talking. "I really need to speak with you Bella."

"_Then speak."_

"In person."

"_So you can try and kiss me again?" _Definite anger there that time.

"I wouldn't."

"_Why not?" _

"That's why I need to talk to you."

"_Huh?"_

"I imprinted."

*** * * ***

**So is it good/bad/decent enough? I want to know if I should keep going with this? Please tell me.**

**Just so you're wondering when abouts this is in twilight, it's set in the forth book but goes along a different route when it reaches the honeymoon. Bella doesn't get pregnant and is back in Forks, preparing for when she's a vampire.**

**The Claire Bennet reference comes from a charecter on the show heroes. She has regenetative powers.**


	2. Family dynamics

**Summary: Jacob Black finally imprinted, unfortunately it's on a girl with a mysterious past and who wants nothing to do with life. He wants to show her how to live. She just wants to be left alone. Vamps/wolves/something else**

**Pairings: All cannon except for JacobXRenesmee it's JacobXOC instead**

**Disclaimer: Twilight is not mine. It belongs to Stephanie Meyer. **

**Irish Translations + Pronunciations are at the bottom of the page because they can be confusing.**

*** * * ***

**Chapter 2 – Family dynamics**

"_In each family a story is playing itself out, and each family's story embodies its hope and despair." – Aguste Napier_

"_Usually when people are sad, they don't do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change." – James Russell Lowell_

"_Like all the best families, we have our share of eccentricities, of impetuous and wayward youngsters and of family disagreements." – Elizabeth II_

Carlisle Cullen sat in his study, searching through all of his books for something that might have explained what happened that afternoon. Murky blue eyes, full of rage and pain and hatred, flashed in his mind and a ghost of the pain he felt ran through his body, the strange energy crackling in his ears. He wasn't sure what the girl did but e was pretty certain that if she wanted to then she could have killed him, and all she had done was look at him.

She was human. He could gather that much from her scent. However there was something just slightly off about it that made want to reconsider the previous statement but, whatever it was, was masked by the saltwater she had in her hair and the stench of the werewolf with her.

The werewolf … that single fact worried him as well. Did they know what it was about her that was so different? Or were they just as oblivious as him? He had later learnt, by shamefully using his vampire gifts to daze the nurses, that the werewolf had saved her from drowning and that they had never met before. Was that just a cover?

He looked back down at the heavy tomb in front of him. He'd had it for over a centaury and never really did get around to reading it. He wondered if he was over reacting. The girl did something unexplainable so he automatically turns to what other mythical beings are out there. He turned the page and skipped the following one. She almost drowned, so he assumed she wasn't a mermaid.

'This is completely irrational,' he thought, chastising himself as one part of his mind tracked Edward through the house. His son knocked at the door, more out of cutesy than anything else, before entering. Edward knew that he knew that he was there.

"Esme's worried," he stated.

"I know."

"Come downstairs. You're obsessing."

"I'm just worried." Carlisle allowed the scene run through his head once more for Edward's benefit but then again, with the way he was going on, Edward had probably seen it already.

Edward stiffened when he saw Jacob's presence.

"Bella's gone to meet him," he said in a voice that was unusually calm, like he was trying to convince himself he wasn't about to panic. That he wasn't running through all the dangerous situations that Bella could have got herself in this time.

"She'll be fine."

"I know. It's just –"

"She's stronger than you think."

"I don't want to see her hurt."

"None of us do and neither do they, which I believe is how this whole thing started. You can't control her life and nor can they."

"I only wish to protect her."

"She doesn't exactly make it easy for you does she?" He smiled gently at his son, who sighed at the amount of trouble Bella always seemed to find herself in.

"You coming down then?"

"Just give me a minute."

Edward smiled at the man and began to exit the room when he turned in the doorway. "I wouldn't give up on the mermaid idea just yet Carlisle. If she's an underwater version of Bella then it's highly probable that she could drown."

Carlisle laughed at his son before the younger vampire left, leaving him to his peace.

He briefly wondered if the girl knew what they were, her comment to Jacob Black once they were around the corner suggested that she did. He was still reeling from the events. The girl was an unknown, a threat to his family. He sighed, pushed the book away and went to join his family downstairs. They were what were important.

*** * * ***

Niamh stood outside the house in the pouring rain for ten minutes, before she moved to enter.

It was a smallish semi-detached house with white painted boards, a window and a door on the ground floor, and two window on the first, perfectly symmetrical. The slate roofing was beginning to get worn down but wouldn't need replacing for a few more years yet. The door was painted an unobtrusive shade of blue and gave the house an overall 'perfect neighbour' feeling to it, just like all the other houses on the street.

It was a far cry from the familiar, lilac cottage she had been brought up in the hilly, beach side village of Inver, North Ireland, with the neighbouring houses all belonging to family as well, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. She eyed the small patch of grass that was the garden. It was laughable to the fields her family owned back home. It also smelt different in Forks too, away from the fresh sea air.

In simple terms, she hated it, loathed it with her entire being. She didn't want to be here in the first place. She wanted – needed – to be back in Ireland, back in the small village she had grown up in. She needed that last connection. After the incident, as she had come to call it, being there was the only thing that kept her going.

Snapping out of her thoughts she crouched down at the door, lifting up a smooth pebble on the step and revealing a house key underneath. "Too predictable," she muttered, unlocking the front door and replacing the key. The entrance room was small, mostly taken up by the staircase, and was a creamy yellow colour that just screamed 'chirpy people'. She took little notice of the pictures that covered the walls.

Walking into the kitchen she saw that her 'aunt' Siobhan. She had had another aunt Siobhan when she was younger, as well as a grand parent with the same name. It was a popular name in her family. This aunt Siobhan wasn't really her aunt though, just her father's second cousin.

Siobhan was a tall woman and into her late forties, however the constant warm-hearted smile on her face lessoned her age by a decade. Her hair, dark brown in colour and beginning to grey, was pulled back into a bun to keep it out of her eyes.

She was in a full-length, blue skirt and a yellow blouse with an apron around her waist, looking all the part of the cheery housewife as she pulled the roast dinner she was cooking out of the oven.

Niamh waited until the hot tray was on the side before she announced her arrival, knew the woman would jump in surprise. She didn't even realise how quietly she moved anymore. It had become habit. After all, being too noisy would just give your position away and make you a target.

"Hello, aunt Siobhan."

As expected, Siobhan jumped before resting her hand to her chest as she calmed her beating heart. "Niamh, you gave me such a fright."

"Sorry." She wasn't really. The woman should be more aware of her surroundings.

"Doesn't matter sweet pea." Niamh bristled at the name. "How did you get in anyway? You forgot your keys. Oh and look at you, you're soaked through to the bone."

"Spare keys," she replied emotionlessly, "You should move them. Anyone could find them where they are."

"Yes, right. I might do that." She looked at the younger girl sadly. She was the only one who knew the real reason the girl's mother, Aoife, sent her there. Everyone else had received the story they had a distant relative staying to learn about American culture. It was a lie.

After the _incident_ back in Ireland – she wasn't sure what had happened there, only that Niamh held herself responsible – the girl had become depressed to the point her health was increasingly at risk. Aoife was worried that she'd have to have her sectioned and decided that a change of scenery was the girl's last chance to recover without needing such dramatic measures to be taken.

"Where did you go today anyway? With the storm and all? We haven't even gotten you a car yet."

Niamh didn't want a car but Siobhan seemed determined to get her one. Even if she was legal to drive in America she had a few more years to wait back home so it wasn't like she could drive it. Well actually she could. Her brother taught her how to even when it was illegal for the both of them.

"The hospital," she replied blandly, ignoring the look of concern on her aunt's face.

"I almost drowned at first beach."

Siobhan tried not to shudder at the lack of interest or any other emotion in her voice. It was bland, almost bored. Her second reaction she acted on. She crossed the room, placed a hand on her niece's forehead and began to fuss over her like the mother hen she was.

"You poor thing. Are you okay? Do you need to lie down? You really should get changed out of those wet clothes of yours and you're looking a little peaky. We really should get some food down you."

"I'm fine," she bit out, hating the fuss and the woman in general. It wasn't really her aunt's fault. She just didn't want to be in Forks – or America for that matter. Her mother wasn't at hand to get angry with so she transferring that anger and hate onto those around her. "When's dinner?"

"Ten minutes. Steve should be home by then. Casey from down the road has been kind enough to let the twins stay over her house to play with her son and Angela's having dinner at Ben's. They really do make such a nice couple. She's going off to college with him this year …" She trailed off sadly when she realised that Niamh had ignored her and gone upstairs.

She sighed, once again worrying for the girl who had practically become a surrogate daughter from the moment she set foot on American soil.

Niamh however did not have any such sentimentality. She looked around her small guest room, consisting of a single bed, a wardrobe, and a chest of draws, which acted as a bedside table as well.

All her clothes remained in the small duffel bag she had brought with her. She had brought two sets of day clothes and a set of pyjamas. It was an unspoken statement to her mother, who had been far from impressed.

Peeling off her wet clothes, she now realised either she'd have to wear the clothes Jacob Black had got her at the hospital every other day since she'd ruined her spare pair on her attempted suicide mission.

It wasn't like she expected it to work either. Every time she'd tried to find a way out of life back in Ireland had ended up useless as well. A venomous snake that somehow got loose bites her and they just so happen to have a specialist in the hospital that day that could identify the type from an eyewitness and get her the right antivenin. She walks out in front of a moving bus and a car crashed into it from the side, knocking it off course and saving her life.

She always survived. It was her curse.

As she changed into a fresh pair of clothes she pulled a picture frame out of her bag. It was the only one she had allowed herself to take with her, anything else she had left behind.

The picture was taken two years earlier, just a few days before the 'incident'. It held just two people in it: herself, just fourteen then, and boy a year or two older than she had been back then.

The boy was grinning goofily, his arms wrapped friendlily around her and she was smiling back, whilst one hand stroked the head of a giant, black dog that was sat at their feet. All of them were drenched in water and the tide was coming in at their feet.

It was one of her fonder memories.

"Ronan," she whispered sadly, stroking the lightly tanned face of the photo. Tears that would never fall – that she would never allow to fall – welled up in her eyes. She didn't deserve to cry though because it was all her fault.

"_Niamh," the aging lady said with a hint of desperation in her voice. "You have to accept your inheritance."_

"_No. I don't want it." She was stubborn. She always had been. She was also extremely independent, wanting to make her own choices. The two qualities didn't mix well in a situation where she felt pressurised to do something she didn't want._

"_What you possess is a gift, child." The deep wrinkles around the mouth and eyes relaxed slightly, as her features softened._

"_It's a curse."_

"_It's your birthright."_

_Niamh span on her heal at the new voice, to face the new voice and its owner. "Máthair? No. No, no, no. You agreed with me. You said I didn't have to. You told me I didn't have to."_

_The girl's mother looked at the twelve year old apologetically. "It's been five years, Niamh. I thought that if given enough time you would warm to the idea but you haven't."_

"_I don't want to be a _freak_. I just want to be normal."_

"_You can never be normal."_

_Niamh choked back the sob that was building in her throat, shaking her head violently. "I don't accept it."_

"_It will happen child," the grey haired lady said firmly. "You need to start your training now. You need to learn how to defend yourself before others start to come for you."_

_Niamh shook her head, bolting from the room. She would be normal. She would never accept her 'gift'._

The cracking of glass and a sharp pain in her hand brought her back to reality. Wincing she let go of the photo she had been holding too hard, placing it back down on the bed, and turned to her hand, watching mutely as it began to heal.

Splinters of glass were slowly pushed outwards of the wound, popping free and falling to the floor, before the cuts began to lace themselves together flawlessly leaving only the stain of blood behind.

"Dinner!" Siobhan's voice called. Niamh glanced down at her blood-covered hand and groaned. She had to get cleaned up before her aunt started to bug her with questions she didn't particularly feel like answering.

The blood washed away easily enough and her aunt and uncle were oblivious when she finally sat down at the dining table. The roast was set out along the table, chicken in the middle and plates of roast potatoes, steamed vegetables and other foods surrounding it.

The dinnerware itself was a modern lime green, bright orange, and sunshine yellow. It was the everyday stuff the family used. It suited them. It was too cheerful. She looked at the bright dinnerware in mildly covered disgust.

Whilst Siobhan and Steve began selecting food and putting it on their plates Niamh sat there watching them. When the older lady finally realised this she told the girl that she was allowed to help herself to as much food as she liked.

Niamh stared at her critically a moment, murky eyes examining her in the way she usually did, before she silently went about selecting some of foods offered but, much to Siobhan's disappointment, there remained a lot of empty space on the ceramic plate.

"So," Steve said slowly, trying to make conversation with his niece, "How was your day?"

"Rainy."

"What did you do?"

"Things."

"Oh. Did you enjoy … things?"

"No."

The air was tense and quiet, filled with the sounds of knifes and forks scraping against the plates.

"How are you finding America so far?" tried Siobhan.

"Clichéd."

Steve wondered if this was typical teenage behaviour. He never had to deal with attitude like this with Angela but, then again, other people they knew had told them how fortunate they were to have such a well-mannered child.

"What's Ireland like?" asked the man, trying to get some conversation flowing.

"Green."

The meal continued on without any conversation with only Niamh immune to the awkwardness. She didn't care about what others thought. When the meal ended she was just glad to be away from other people.

Siobhan looked at the barely touched food on Niamh's plate sadly. The girl had barely eaten a thing since she had arrived. She sighed, picking it up and clearing the table. Maybe it would get better soon.

*** * * ***

Niamh lay back down on her bed after moving the broken glass and photo onto the dresser and stared up at the ceiling before closing her eyes and went through her breathing exercises. She was meant to have learnt them at the start of her training when she was seven, only she had refused. She chose the easy path of trying to pretend there was nothing wrong with her and she knew exactly how well that turned out.

Two years ago she began her training. She was far behind where she should have been but anger and pain were great motivators and she had breezed through more of the material than she should have been capable of. It helped that she didn't really sleep that much anymore. It was better when she was awake, when the dreams couldn't haunt her.

She did her breathing exercises the most often. It was one of he most integral parts of the training that she would receive, at least until her seventeenth birthday. The date seemed to be haunting her. She saw it everywhere.

Six weeks. Just six weeks.

Her birthday was ironic even to herself. October 31st, All Hallow's eve – the day when all the ghost and ghoulies come out to play.

Six weeks left of humanity, even in all her mucked up version of humanity it was something. Six weeks before everything changed but it wasn't like that happened already. First was an event that happened when she was five, only remembered for the first time a couple of years ago because of stress dragging the memory up in her sleep.

She had been so small and afraid. She had fallen over and broken her arm and was in an ambulance. Her mother wasn't there because she been at her cousin's at the time and was with an older member of her family. The EMT was watching her closely for half the journey with dark black eyes until he tried to attack her.

The next part of her memory was hazy but she _knew _she managed to do something. It was a cross between defensive and offensive, stopping the man – '_Vampire_,' she corrected in her mind – from attacking her. It hurt him but the others, being an older cousin and the driver, were unaffected.

Unfortunately because of the attack the driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed. She managed to get out with her cousin before the ambulance exploded, the fire killing the vampire. The memory had been suppressed because of the trauma and her age but her cousin was let in on the secret about her by her those who knew.

It was the first attack she experienced because of those who wanted her power. They went about it in different ways but in the end the motives were all the same.

There was the time when she was seven, learning for the first time about her cursed destiny. She denied it from the start. She believed that if she didn't use what she was given then it would eventually fade away.

She could have a normal life.

When she was ten 'those who knew', as she referred to them, suddenly became increasingly careful in watching her. They didn't let her out of their sight until two months down the line she started acting out, sneaking off because she wanted time alone.

It was only when she had been gone for hours they finally revealed that they were trying to keep a safe eye on her because there had been an attempted kidnapping. It had been a couple, werewolves, that time. The Children of the Moon believed that her blood would cure them of their curse. They were going to keep her looked away and milk her like a blood cow for the power they thought she contained to free them.

They had still been out there, waiting for a chance to get to her. They almost got it too but that was how they got caught. She wasn't sure what happened to them but she hoped it was particularly nasty. That event had led her to carry great distain for werewolves.

When she was thirteen her suppressed powers started to grow, acting out every now and again. She tried to ignore it. She didn't want it and had been warned that she had to train.

Then, two years ago, there was the 'incident'. She hadn't been able to suppress her curse then. She lost her chance at ever living normally. Her life was ticking away until she became something she didn't want to be, cursed forever.

She'd rather die before that happened, unfortunately it seemed that that wish was impossible and, even six weeks away, she could feel the drain her upcoming birthday was having on her body. She had felt it weakly on previous years but this was far stronger. It was also the last time it would happen.

She looked sadly back across at the broken photo. Her selfishness at leading a normal life had caused Ronan's death. 'Human's are too fragile,' she thought, turning away from the happy scene. Her life wasn't like that anymore. She couldn't dwell on the past.

She had six weeks of humanity left. It She understood after the disastrous drowning attempt that she had no option out of life so she wanted to make the most of the time she had left, especially with most of it being eaten away by school time.

Forty-two days to do something impulsive. One thousand and eight hours to do human things. Sixty thousand four hundred and eighty minutes left to be an average teenager.

It made her angry that she had been shortchanged so much in life. Her humanity would be stolen from her and she could do nothing about it. She felt the need to do something stupid and reckless whilst she still had the chance. Unfortunately she had no concept of what impulsive, teenage shenanigans went on.

Sneaking out was a start and, though she'd get pleasure in winding Siobhan up, it wasn't that much fun to walk around in the dark until the woman began to freak. Deciding to work out what to do later, she slid out the window and dropped gracefully to the floor.

Walking down the poorly lit street, she decided if she could manage to hitchhike to another state then it would be pretty fun to make her aunt come pick her up, pausing, as one of the streetlamps momentarily reflected light of Steve's car, she decided she had a better idea.

It's not like she cared about getting into trouble. If she did enough wrong then it'd be straight back to Ireland, where she belonged.

It was time to use the skills her brother decided to bestow her with. "_Go raibh maith agat, deartháir_."

*** * * ***

'_I imprinted.'_ Those two words echoed around Bella's head, making complete sense and no sense at the same time. She knew what it meant but she couldn't seem to connect that with Jacob, her best friend Jacob.

After he said that she just confirmed she would be there and jumped in her stupid, shiny, way-too-expensive, missile-proof before car and headed down to La Push, trying to take in the simple statement. She briefly wondered if he would still be Jacob. How much did imprinting change a person? She didn't know any of the wolves long enough before they imprinted to know.

Jacob imprinted. He found his match.

She was ecstatic for him, despite her anger at his actions. She didn't have to worry so much about what it would do to Jacob when she was changed. He wouldn't be in pain because she chose the Cullens over him anymore.

However, a small part of her that she tried to ignore – the part of her that Jacob convinced her that loved him back – felt jealousy and pain at the revelation. She felt disgusted at herself for even feeling that way. After everything she put Jacob through she had no right to feel like that.

She had to admit she was intrigued in what the girl was like. She was grateful to her, just for the fact that she was Jacob's perfect match.

As she pulled into the driveway at her friend's house, she was almost taken aback by the look of … _rightness_ on Jacob's face. The difference was subtle and she couldn't really put her finger on what had changed but it was there. Where there had been a lost boy before there was suddenly a man who knew what his purpose was.

In that moment he was beautiful.

It wasn't the same kind of beauty that Edward or any of the other Cullen's held. It felt more like the light of a candle when everything else is dark. It was a gentle beauty that radiated warmth and hope when there was none left, something that could easily be overlooked.

"You look good," she commented truthfully.

"I feel good."

"I'm still angry at you, just so you know."

Jacob grinned. "Figured as much."

They fell into the easy atmosphere that they always had between them and walked down to the garage and sat down in the familiar environment to talk. "So how'd it happen?"

"I was out running today and –" his voice cut off like he was choking, reminding him of Sam's order that he had received a few minutes before. He'd only been in wolf form a few minutes because Sam wanted everyone that they were not to mention Niamh's abilities until they were sure what she was and how much the Cullen's knew.

"I was out running," he continued as I nothing had happened, knowing that Bella knew that it was no use to comment on things he couldn't talk about. "I found her in the water drowning, pulled her out. I caught a glimpse of her eyes an that was it."

"What's her name?"

"Niamh. It's Irish. She's Irish too but over here to stay with family."

Bella frowned slightly. "If she had to go back home, you'd follow. Wouldn't you?"

"Of course." There was no pause in his voice, no doubt in his tone.

"I'd miss you," she stated. It wasn't that she was trying to make him feel guilty or that she didn't love Edward, which she did. He was her world. It was just Jacob was her best friend. She could talk to things with him that she couldn't with Edward or even Alice.

Kindred spirits.

That had been her impression of their relationship for a long time. Anybody would miss somebody that they felt a connection with leave.

"I'd miss you too."

"Anything else I should know about this girl. I've got to make sure that she'll take care of you now," she teased.

"There's not much. I only met her once so far but apparently she already has the impression that I'm a closet pervert and a stalker."

Bella laughed at the frustration on his face. "I like her already."

"So …" Jacob said slowly, "How are you and the bl … Edward?" he corrected himself at Bella's glare as he broached the subject of the pink elephant that had taken to dancing around them in a polka dotted tutu and pirate hat.

"It's good," she said carefully, knowing that any subject about the vampire coven had to be spoken about carefully around werewolves. She would never understand the inherent hatred between the two species. Seth seemed to get on well enough with them.

"So when are you going to …" he trailed off. They both knew that she was planning to be changed into a vampire after her honeymoon.

"Two weeks."

His hands started shaking as he desperately tried to control his rage. "Don't do this."

Bella was slightly surprised. She had believed that Jacob hadn't wanted her too become a vampire for the reason that he was in love with her but it seemed that it was more than that after all. "Jake, please. I've found where I belong. Just like you have now."

"You shouldn't do this," he said firmly.

"Why not?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

Bella looked at him blankly and he laughed slightly, bitterly. Bella was so observant when it came to some things but when it came to others then was practically blind. "I don't want to loose you."

She placed her own, cool hand on his. "You won't loose me. The Cullens will make sure nothing goes wrong.

More blindness. More bitterness.

"You really don't get it do you? If you become one of _them_, a filthy bloodsucker –"

"Jacob," she scowled before turning to leave. She hated the prejudice he held towards the Cullens.

"Wait. Just listen to me a second. God Bella. I'm scared. If you become one of them, I could loose you. For all we know you could be completely different. Either that or the instinct to kill each other will mean that we can't be friends anymore!"

Hands shook as deep brown, nearly black eyes burned into Bella's.

"That won't happen," she said adamantly.

"How can you be sure?"

There was no answer because she couldn't be sure. They sat in silence for a while before Bella spoke. Her voice was quiet but was heavy with emotion. Jacob's fears had become her own. She didn't want to loose Jacob but Edward was far more important.

"Whatever happens, we will find a way. You're my best friend Jake. I won't lose you."

He nodded but it didn't really seem like that he was listening to her in that moment. Bella sighed sadly before she stood and left, leaving him to his thoughts.

He barely noticed as she drove away.

*** * * ***

**Translations + Pronunciations**

**Máthair (Maw-her) = Mother **

**Niamh (Nee-av) **

**Aoife (EE-fa) = Irish equivalent of the name Eva**

**Go raibh maith agat, deartháir (****guh rev mah a-gut, ****DRA-hawr****) = Thank you, brother **

**The pronunciation for brother varies a lot over different regions so it may be different to what some use but is still correct. **


End file.
